Automatic firing device for submarine mines.



G. E. BLIA.

AUTOMATIG FIRING DEVICE FOR SUBMARINE MINES,

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 20, 1912.

1,025,905. Patented May 7-, 1912.

6/01/00/7/ 07000 /6 ffia W WI Afro/Mfrs LOZEifiUfi. Specification of fi'ietters Eetent.

Application filed March 20, 1912.

To all 10/ 10772, 2'2 m up concern Be it known that 1 GIOVANNI Eimxtnnn ELIA, of Hotel de Crillon, Place de la COIh corde, Paris, in the French Republic, ha e lIlTGIllIECl certain new and useful Improvemerits in and Relating to Automatic Firing Devices for Submarine lllines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object the production of an automatic ti'in' device for submarine mines in which cocking and the tiring are produced automatically by contact between the mine and the hull of a moving ship.

The invention consi' s more particularly in utilizing for the coclting and for the percussion, the buoyancy of the mine itself which enables the firing device to act at all depths and at all temperatures.

The accompanying drawing shows a vertical sectional view of a constructional form of a firing device embodying the in Vention.

A box a, which may be cylindrical in form for example, comprises at its lower part a detonatorb of suitable form intended to be lodged in the known manner in proximity to the explosive charge of a mine of ordinary construction; through this box there passes a vertical rod 0 ending at its lower part in a ring (Z to which a cable is fixed; this may be the cable by means of which the mine is moored and which exerts a given The rod 0 comprises two sections which pass through stutling boxes 6 9 so that watertight joints are formed and these sections are united inside the chamber a by means of a yoke f. A double plate ]L is arranged at the upper extremity of this rod and the end 2' of the lever j mounted upon a pivot rigid with the box a engages in this plate; this extremity '2 is adapted to be. held in engagement with the double plate 71 in any known manner, for example by means of a block of sal ammoniac or other substance soluble in sea-water. The yoke f is mounted in a siniilarly shaped casing Z provided with aprotuberance or located opposite a nose at on a leaf spring 0 which is fixed at p to the w of the box a and carries in proxin'iity to its free end a striker g arranged opposite a cap rheld in the yoke j and easing Z. The casingZ is filled with powder term an explosive fuse s and is provided with an openrm f i w s Is, ASSIG-NOB TO VICKERS LIMITED, or area, LONDGN, nnenartn.

seer/tenure MINES.

Patente d May *3 1%12.

Serial No. 684,939.

Z opening into the tube 6 containing fulminate 5' of the detonator b. The detonator is suitably arranged in proximity to the explosive charge of the mine proper, which is not represented.

The operation is as tollows:lVhen the mine is moored the traction exerted by the cable not shown) upon the ring (Z of the rod 0 and due to the buoyancy of the mine, merely serves to maintain the mine as a whole in the desired position of immersion, this tractive effort being transmitted by the double plate 1 2 the rod 27, j and its pivot is to the mine itself. The locking device constituted by the sal ammoniac or the'like, which locks the lever i, in place disappears after a certain time and releases this lever, the parts occupying the position represented in the c rawing. The striker is at a suitable distance from the cap 1 and the spring 0 carrying it is not cocked. .Vhen a ship strikes the mine, the friction against the hull causes the mine to rotate about its vertical axis and the lever j striking against the ships side this lever turns about its pivot is and its end 2' is disengaged from the double plate 71. As this plate is no longer sup ported. it descends suddenly under the tractive efiort exerted upon its ring (Z. During the first part of this movement the protuberance m bears upon the nose IL in cocking the spring 0. the parts then occupying the position represented in broken lines. is the structure constituted as a whole by the lever c f continues to descendpthe nose n escapes from the protuberance m and the leaf spring 0 rises suddenly and projects the striker 9' into the cap r which by the intermediary or" the quick match or fuse s, and of the tulminate 2f ignites the detonator b and consequently the explosive charge of the mine.

The advantages are as t0llows:This arrangement renders itpossible to cock the mine only atthe moment at which its action is desired and the certainty of operation is increased owing to the constructionof the device itself, which does not comprise parts sensitive to variations of temperature and owing to the absence of springs or other parts which require adjust-mentat the time of mooring while their strength may diminish owing to fatigue or for other reasons. Furthermore this device is exceedingly reliable in its operation; the buoyancy of the mine itself is utilized as the motive nowu' for actuating the striker and this buoya cy remains substantially constant; notwithstanding the variations of temperzv turedue to dilt'erences of climate and to,

depth of immersion of the mine the buovancv substantially constant-.' It is also impossible for the detonator to be affected by the explosion of one or more adjacent mines and sea currents do not exert any effect upon it.

The safety device constituted by the lever i 7' may be replaced by any equivalent part adapted to be momentarily locked While being arranged in position. Instead of arrangingthis rod in such a manner as to permit it to release only the rod 0, it might be arranged in such a manner as to cause it to sluar through a pin or rupture a part of an kind so as to prevent the oxidation which may possibly be caused by the seawater affecting the operation of the device by preventingthe rod fr m sliding.

The inventionis applicable to submarine mines of all kinds,

Claims:

1. A percussion device for sub-marine mines, comprising a box, a rod mounted to slide in the box and formed of two sections connected by a yoke piece, the lower end t said rod being adapted to be connected withthe mooring cable, a casing in which the said yoke piece is mounted, provided with a projection, a leaf spring secured to the box and provided with a nose in the path of the said projection and with a striker, a cap carried by the casing and adapted to be engaged by the strikers of the spring, and a locking device for said rod.

2. In a percussion device for sub-marine mines, a box, a sliding rod mounted in the box and adapted to be connected with a mooring cable, a striker secured to the box, means carried by the rod and coacting with the striker when released, a grooved mem-'.

her on one end oi the rod, and a pivoted locking lever on the casing and having one end engaging the groove of said member.

3. A mechanism of the class described comprising a casing, a rod 'mounted to slide in the casing with its ends projecting through said casing, and to one end of which a mooring cable is adapted to be secured, a striker carried by the casing, a

cap carried by the rod, means tormaintaim .55

ing the casing and rod in fixed position, and means for engagement with the said striker when the parts are moved relatively ing the parts in position and against movement relatively to each other, the said means being releasable, whereby the parts may move relatively to each other, the said part which carries the cap being provided with a projection cotiperating with the said striker when the parts are moved,whereby the striker is brought remote from the cap, the striker returning fr m such remote position after movement through a suitable distance has been efi'ectcd, the striker engaging the said cap, there being combustible material between the cap and the said detonator.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto placed my hand at Loud-m, England this twenty-ninth day of February 1912.

GIOVANNI EMANUELE ELIA.

In the presence of two witnesses:

EUSTAC-E H. BARKER, ARTHUR T. lVAorIonN. 

